Government confident with preparation

As Hurricane Beryl makes its quick path to the Cayman Islands from Jamaica, the Government has made concerted efforts in the past few days to ensure the safety of the public. At a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Governor Jane Owen said she’d been impressed by the resilience and resourcefulness shown by the people of Cayman during the lead up to this, her first major hurricane, as well as the kindness that people had shown each other. She said she’d had daily briefings with the UK Government and a ship in the region was standing by.

Beryl’s approach

Expected to approach Cayman early on Thursday morning, the centre of Beryl should pass 170 miles south of Cayman Brac at midnight on Wednesday and 69 miles south of Grand Cayman at 4.30am Thursday morning.

Cayman could anticipate extremely rough seas, swells peaking through Thursday morning, although it would be arriving at a relatively low tide on Grand Cayman as opposed to high tide on the sister islands.

Cayman Islands National Weather Service Director General John Tibbetts said Cayman was expected to experience strong tropical storm conditions but people ought to remember this was still a hurricane, so the impacts would be very strong winds of 50-60mph Thursday morning on Grand Cayman and for the sister islands 45-50mph. Expect storm surge and flooding from heavy rainfall, he warned.

Premier Julianna O’Connor Connelly said Hurricane Beryl posed a significant threat to all three Cayman Islands, including heavy rainfall, damaging waves and storm surge. She made sure people understood that they had to adhere to official directions, as a Shelter-In-Place order had been issued for 6pm on Wednesday, and said government would do everything possible to maintain law and order. Looting, she said, would not be tolerated.

“Stay home, stay put and leave the police to do what they do best,” she said.

Commissioner of Police Kurt Walton said that he could recommend curfews and the penalty could be a fine of $3k or one year in prison or both. Adhere to the warnings to stay indoors, he said.

Preparations

Government had been working extremely hard in preparation, the Premier stated.

“We have taken every reasonable step to ensure that all of our people, Caymanians, residents, tourists alike are as safe and as prepared as they can be,” the Premier said. “We want to ensure that safety is our priority.

All emergency protocols had been activated and shelters were prepared and had been open since midday. Two on Grand Cayman were pet friendly. Shelters were available for everyone including visitors and if they got very busy, space would be made for everyone. Dani Coleman, Hazard Management Director, said Cayman had capacity for 11.5% of the population across all three islands in terms of shelters. Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said there were about 5,000 visitors currently on island and he was very confident in the hotels protecting them.

At the time of writing, Grand Cayman shelters were not heavily populated, while Cayman Brac had seen a steadier stream of people.

Help at hand

Deputy Premier Andre Ebanks, Minister of Financial Services and Commerce and also Investment, Innovation, and Social Development said about 5,000 vulnerable Caymanians had been given an extra CI$400 in their stipend today to help with hurricane preparations. A variety of hotlines existed to help people including:

CayMind 1-800-534-6463

Cayman Kids 649-KIDS

Cayman Crisis Centre 943-2422

With regard to the financial services sector, accounting and law firms had their preparations intact, and the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce and the Bankers Association had been working with the Government. ATMs were topped up.

Tourism Minister Bryan said they had worked closely with hotels to ensure they had activated their plans. Guests were given the option to stay on island or evacuate and a number of flights were added since Monday with more than 1,000 evacuated.

Minister Bryan said the Port had been battened down since 12 today and was ready and waiting for cargo ships to arrive Friday in the event of minimal damage to the island.

“We are as prepared as we can be,” Minister Bryan said.

Health matters

Health Minister Sabrina Turner said all out-patient clinics were closed and elective surgeries had been stopped pending the all clear. People needing any medical services (unless dire emergencies) should stay at home unless a dire emergency.

During the Hurricane, 911 calls would be dealt with on a case by case. If people needed to speak to a doctor, they could call 949-8600 on Grand Cayman and Faith Hospital on Cayman Brac would be open for emergencies – call 244-7643. Little Cayman Health Centre was available in an emergency on 916-5395. None of the district health centres were shelters for the public, she said and urged people to go to official shelters nearest to them if need be.

She also advised that anyone attending emergency medical shelters should have a family member or caregiver with them, (such as those people in wheelchairs/people on oxygen/people with mental health issues.)

People should make their house numbers visible for emergency personnel in the event that they had to respond.

Roads and flooding

Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks said the NRA had been addressing low lying areas prone to flooding and they would have pumps on standby. For a flood prone areas map visit: gov.ky/news/press-release-details

All essential services were in operation and there would be digital updates over time. Electricity would be kept on so long as it is safe to do so. Water would be kept flowing unless there were disruptions. There was sufficient petrol/gas to last for several weeks. Starlink communications kits would be flown in if need be.

NRA Director Edward Howard warned that people parking on the Linford Pierson Highway in the hope of protecting their cars not to block NRA assets, and that also included people parking on bridges towards West Bay. The NRA were asking for all of those cars to be removed.

The Governor ended by saying: “Staying informed is almost the same as staying safe – keep listening to the official channels. Don’t go out unless its safe tomorrow. Stay informed stay vigilant and that means we all stay safe.”